Super: Underground: Book 2 in the Super: Series

by Palladian

  Laura beamed in response. “Well, we couldn’t let you go away without giving you a big sendoff. So you liked it?”

  “You were great, but I’m sure you know it,” Lex teased, then gave Laura a serious look. “By the way, I gave the keys to Jack.”

  “Thank you all so much! I really can’t tell you how much we appreciate this,” the blonde said, hugging Lex again.

  “Don’t thank me yet; wait until the end of the night,” Lex retorted, giving her friend a cautionary look.

  “I’ve got to thank you now because I probably won’t be able to later,” Laura reminded Lex, whose face went serious again. Laura gave Lex one more hug and said, “OK, I’m going to get out of your way because I know you all are going to get busy soon, and I’m sure Casey could use the help. Take good care of yourself, Lex. We’ll miss you here.”

  Lex felt herself blinking as she tried to hold it together, but managed to smile. “We’re going to miss you guys, too. Keep making great music.”

  Laura hugged everyone else at the table before she went back out. Lex offered her congratulations to Hal, who nodded and smiled just before sitting on the couch in the corner and opening the book he’d been reading before his band went on. Eddie prowled the room restlessly for a few minutes before standing behind Riss and looking over her shoulder at the laptops displaying the security camera footage.

  “I’m not even going to ask how you got access to all of this,” he said with a wide grin. “Are you looking for something in particular?”

  Riss frowned a little, not wanting to give anything away, but before she could say anything Kate beat her to it. Pointing to a figure in a trenchcoat who’d just appeared on one of the security camera images, she said, “These guys. There’s a bunch of them here.”

  Turning to face Kate, Riss glared at her. “Sorry, sorry,” Kate said to her, holding her hands up in front of her. She turned to Eddie and added, “Yeah, they all pretty much look like that, so you should probably avoid them.”

  He grinned even more widely. “Hell if I will,” he replied. “I think I might give them a little trouble for all of the trouble they’ve given you.”

  Lex’s eyes widened. “Eddie, please don’t. We think they may be dressed like that because…they have weapons,” she finished, trailing off.

  Eddie laughed in return. “Oh, don’t worry,” he said. “I’d been planning to go out and give Laura and Casey a hand. If I run into one of these guys along the way, I’ll be sure to make it look like an accident.”

  He waved and headed out the door, and the rest of the group went back to spending half their time watching the show being broadcast on the screens around the room and the other half watching the security camera images. Riss chuckled at one point and the others looked to see her finger under the picture of Eddie, who appeared to have run into one of the men in trenchcoats. When they looked over, Eddie stood in front of the man, haranguing him. Eventually, Lex’s ears perked up as she heard Jack’s voice from the screens in front of them.

  “All right, everyone who has a special pass, you can start coming forward and security will begin to check you in. Be sure to keep it friendly out there, guys. There’s plenty of time before Alexander’s Army comes on.”

  There heard cheering in the crowd as he said the name of the band, and the members of the named band all looked at each other.

  Chapter 33: Departure

  The dressing room that they’d told Lex about turned out to be a multi-purpose room that had a temporary curtain strung halfway across it. All of the women got on one side as Kate drew the curtain. Somehow, the exercise of getting dressed for their performance ended up involving more hilarity than usual, even causing Riss to crack a smile. Once everyone seemed satisfied with how they looked, Lex gazed at the curtain.

  “Lou, are you ready?” she asked.

  She thought a chuckle sounded out on the other side before she heard Lou’s deep, calming voice. “Yes, I’ve been ready awhile,” he replied.

  Kate flung the curtain back and then the group approached the long mirror on one side of the room. As they stood in front of it, Riss put her laptop on the table sitting in front of the mirror and turned the screen to face them.

  “So, what do you think?” Kate asked. “Do we match the picture?”

  Lex checked the photo of themselves on the screen against what she saw in the mirror and felt satisfied that the match was good enough. She wore one of her anime t-shirts, which also bore the legend “I was born a monster,” along with her leather pants and motorcycle boots. Riss wore her usual skinny black jeans and a t-shirt with what looked like a stylized circuit board printed on it in silver. Lou wore a much-washed black concert t-shirt, blue jeans, and square-toed black boots while Kate wore her infamous leather top and low-riding blue jeans. After everyone had double-checked the two sources and seemed satisfied, Riss packed the laptop into her backpack.

  “Let’s go backstage and wait,” Lex suggested. “It probably won’t be too much longer before they’ll want us to go on.”

  The group walked down a tunnel that led behind the stage. Some over-enthusiastic worker had told Lex earlier that normally players used it to run onto the field. As she listened and waited, Lex thought the sounds from outside seemed both oddly amplified and somehow far away. The four of them leaned against the wall until they heard loud, crowd sounds that continued for some time. After a few minutes, the members of Jacob’s Hammer appeared. Jack drew Kate off to the side while the others said goodbye to Rachel and Sarah.

  “You guys sounded amazing tonight,” Lex said as she hugged Sarah. “Thanks a lot for coming out to do this show.”

  “We’re glad to be here,” Sarah said as she drew back. “We’re really going to miss you guys.”

  “Same here,” Lex replied, blinking hard.

  Lex turned to watch as their three friends walked away down the hall, sighing at the weight that had settled on her chest. As she glanced back, she and her friends exchanged looks for a moment until Lex said, “So, are you all ready to be stars? We’ve got to give a hell of a performance to keep up with what everyone else did tonight.”

  Looking around at the expressions on everyone’s faces, Lex saw determination and smiles. “Yeah, let’s give them a show they’re never going to forget,” Kate said, nodding as a grin crossed her face.

  Minutes later they walked onto the stage, the crowd noise nearly deafening to Lex. She looked down to see that the bare space in front of the stage had filled up halfway and that the people who’d made their way forward had pressed close to the stage, many of them screaming. Casting a glance at Kate, whom she saw smirking, Lex stepped to the front left corner of the stage while Kate stepped to the front right. They’d decided that since people had been situated on all sides, it felt fairest if they all took a corner and faced outwards. Lou settled his bass over his shoulder behind Lex and Riss opened her laptop behind Kate.

  “Hello, everyone!” Lex shouted once she stood in front of the microphone. “Thank you all for coming out tonight! We’re going to give you the show of your lives!”

  The crowd got louder for a few moments, but they started to quiet as the band broke into a song, one of the songs from their first CD, “Facing Home.”

  On the day the light faded from the sky

  Leaving a red tear inside the clouds

  It was then that I knew everything I’d lived was falling

  It was then I headed out upon the road

  The taste of ash was clear upon my tongue

  And the rain that washed me was black with dirt

  Leaving and traveling was my life now

  Bounded only by the road and clouds

  As Lex continued, she made a decision that tonight, for once, she was going to sing what she felt with everything she had. Always before she’d tried to hold back, afraid of how her voice might sway people. This time, however, she decided to do her very best and see how it went. By the time she’d finished singing the first song and opene
d her eyes as she played the last few notes, Lex felt shocked and somewhat afraid to realize that the entire stadium had fallen silent. As she glanced around, she could even see that the people in the trenchcoats seemed to be affected, standing near the corners of the staircases as if in a dream.

  The silence that followed the song seemed deafening in comparison, making the abrupt applause and calling that started a few seconds later seem even louder. Lex looked over at Kate as she started the next song, and Kate returned her look with a raised eyebrow and a tiny smile. The crowd began to quiet again as the music resumed, and Lex returned Kate’s grin as she began playing.

  They performed all the songs off both of their albums and a couple of new ones during the show. The crowd continued to get rowdier and the area at the front of the stage got packed to the point where Lex added a request during one of the songs that everyone treat all the other people in the stadium peacefully and remember that they were surrounded by friends. After that, although the crowd remained enthusiastic, there seemed to be a friendlier tone in the fans’ interactions.

  After they finished playing the last song, Lex waited until some of the applause and calling died away, then said, “Thanks again to all of you for coming out tonight, and now we’re going to give up the stage for what I think a number of you have been waiting for.”

  Lex heard rhythm with a bit of synthesizer in the background as she turned back to look at Riss. Her friend had kicked off the beginning sequence for one of the most downloaded songs from their first album. As Riss and Lou stepped forwards, Lex continued, “I’m Jane, this is Rose, Clarissa, and Robert, and we’re Alexander’s Army!”

  The four of them stood across the front of the stage and bowed low before they split the group and began to walk offstage. Lou followed Lex, and she asked him, “Are you ready for show time?” He chuckled and nodded.

  As she walked down the stairs in front of the stage, Lex looked over at the long table directly in front of the stage where Eddie, Laura, Sarah, and Rachel sat. She mouthed “thank you” as she caught Laura’s eye. The other woman shook her head and mouthed the same words back with a nod. Lex smiled as she veered to the left and took the final step off the stage, watching as Lou turned towards the right.

  Casually turning her head showed her that there were five or six people in trenchcoats on the outside of the fenced-in area in front of the stage. She saw one arguing with a security guard, and the others looked into the enclosure, glaring at the crowd in general. Turning back to the people in front of her, Lex could see a long line of women, most of them with short red hair matching her own shade to some degree and wearing the same outfit she had on down to the t-shirt.

  “Ladies, you look fabulous!” she cried slightly above the crowd noise, to which the nearest of her look-alikes giggled nervously. Some enterprising fans asked her to sign their CDs, and she moved to the middle of the group as she did so. After some discussion and well-wishing, Lex continued making her way down the line, giving encouraging comments to the women and girls standing there. A casual glance to the side showed her that their pursuers looked panicked now, staring where she and Lou had gotten lost in the crowd of people that looked very much like them.

  In the near distance, Lex noted that Eddie had gone up to the stage to explain the rules, and heard him in the background as she engaged her look-alikes in conversation and made her way down the line with forced casualness.

  “Please pay attention, everyone! We’ve got a number of you here, so we’re going to try to make sure everyone gets their turn. As you know, the top prize going to the best performers will be Alexander’s Army’s gear. Since there can only be one winner for every member of the band, listen up to get the rules! You’ve got a number on the back of your ticket. Know what it is because everyone will be called by it…”

  Lex lost track of Eddie’s voice as he continued explaining the rules, but she did notice when he came back down from the stage and someone else began calling the first numbers. Then she looked up at the stage to see someone who resembled each of them standing at each of their places, trying to play their instruments as well as they could. Lex smiled as she watched for a few minutes, then as the people started cycling she began moving again, still talking to the other people in line but always making her way towards the exits.

  A number of the people in trenchcoats had started to congregate towards the back of the open area where the contestants moved in and out of the exit gates. They appeared to be at a loss as to what to do, staring at each Lex, Lou, Riss, or Kate that walked by, examining them as if they could somehow determine the original.

  Trying for a casual glance towards the back of the area, Lex smiled as she noticed Victor’s absence from the sound booth area. Of course, she thought. That’s another explanation as to why the music coming from the speakers sounds a bit off.

  She paused near the back of the crowded area where the contestants waited, trying to gauge her chances of getting by the people in trenchcoats when she picked up on the conversation of a group of girls nearby, two of them dressed as her, one dressed as Kate, and one as Riss.

  “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get home,” one of them whined. “The only reason my parents let me come here at all was because I promised to get home before curfew, and we’ve got to leave now if I’m going to do that. Please, Linda, I swear I’ll owe you for this forever!”

  The girl who’d been talking was dressed as Lex and addressed a girl dressed as Kate. Linda sighed and gave the girl who’d been begging a hard look. “Well, all right, Suzy, but you’d better believe you owe me!”

  As they started to head for the exit, Lex smiled to herself and moved to intercept them. “Do you guys mind if I walk out with you?” she asked, looking at all the girls in turn. “I need to meet back up with my friends, but those guys over there are really creeping me out!”

  She gestured her head to the few people milling around in trenchcoats, and after the girls looked over at them, they glanced back with surprised eyes. “Who are they?” one of them asked, almost whispering.

  Lex shrugged. “I’m not sure, but they keep giving everyone these weird looks. I bet they’re some kind of weird perverts or something.”

  Linda, who seemed to be in charge because she had the car keys, looked spooked at this. “Yeah, let’s get out of here. They do look strange.”

  The girls fell silent as they walked up the ramp, attracting little attention from the men in trenchcoats, but one of Lex’s doubles turned to ask as they entered the stadium building again, “Do you have to leave early, too?”

  “No,” Lex replied, shaking her head. “I already got to go on, but I’m the only one out of my friends who wanted to compete, so I figured I’d wait with all of them to hear who wins.”

  “Oh,” the girl said, smiling. “I wish I’d been able to stay to compete.”

  As they reached the inside of the stadium, Lex split off from her temporary group of friends. “Thanks, you guys,” she said. “I really appreciate it!”

  A couple of them responded with waves as Lex waved them goodbye, then began walking around the inside, watching the numbered signs that noted your location in the stadium, passing numerous snack stands and stadium entrances. Finally, she ducked inside a ladies’ rest room. As she’d hoped, it stood almost empty. She went into the first stall and waited until the woman who’d been washing her hands left the room.

  Lex stood on the bowl then, reaching up behind an air duct that ran just over a supply closet next to her stall. She pulled a bag out of the dusty cubbyhole and dropped down into the stall again.

  Several minutes later, Lex walked out of the stall with the bag and went over to the sinks to wash her hands. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and adjusted her green knit beret so that it covered her hair as well as possible. Smiling at the reflection of her redheaded anime crush on her white t-shirt, she examined her blue canvas coat and blue jeans as she dried her hands, then took a pair of grey tinted glasses from her
jacket pocket and put them on. Looking around to see that no one else had entered the room, Lex moved towards the exit, throwing away the towel she’d dried her hands on as well as the bag she held in the large trash can next to the exit.

  She moved purposefully as she retraced her steps. Lex passed one man in the standard trenchcoat, looking about with some confusion, and forced herself to look through her glasses at him and smile. He frowned back at her and kept moving, not giving her a second glance. Trying to ignore the bead of sweat now traveling down her spine, Lex made her slow way to one of the exits.

  A number of people still remained in the parking lots, since it seemed about half the people who attended the show left after they’d stopped playing and the other half either stayed to compete or to watch their friends. Those who’d left early had mostly cleared out, so Lex didn’t feel threatened by anything except a stray car or two as she walked out to a far corner of the lot. Approaching a baby-blue van, she pulled the door open and shut it behind her as she stepped inside.

  Casey turned in the driver’s seat to smile at her, and Victor moved over on one of the bench seats to give her room to sit. Riss handed Lex some paperwork from the front passenger’s seat.

  “Your passport and visa papers,” she explained with a dark smile.

  “Good work, Riss,” Lex said as she reached out for them and then searched for her small travel bag to pack them into.

  As she looked around the van, she saw all of the bags she’d packed for their upcoming trip and nodded. “Does it look like everything’s here?” she asked her friends.

  Victor and Riss nodded and Casey added, “As far as we can tell. All of our stuff is here, so hopefully everyone else’s is as well.”

  About five minutes later the back door of the van opened and Lou got in. Lex could see Casey smile at him in the rearview mirror, and Riss passed his paperwork to the back. “Is all your stuff here?” Casey asked.

  He glanced around before nodding in response, then flipped through the pages. Lex started worrying a minute later, however, as she realized that Kate had been expected before Lou. “Has anyone–” she started to ask, but got cut off by the van door opening then slamming shut. Kate crouched in the doorway, cursing, until Lex moved over to let her sit.